Your question at the math reference desk is rather odd. People get stumped? As if everyone didn't grow up hearing the names of Euclid, Archimedes, Euler, Gauss, Riemann, Hilbert, etc. etc.? And dozens of others? Deciding which one is the single most famous is not easy, if indeed it is possible, but are these not household names that everyone (except some non-mathematicians) hears every day? Michael Hardy (talk) 23:14, 20 July 2008 (UTC)Reply